Week 26

Dear Family,

Well, this week was hecka long. So long. Not even bad, but just long. Now that it´s over it feels less long, but thus is life. Time is so trippy. It´s so weird when you´re in it, but then when it´s over it´s over #deep. It´s like the mission, but also just life in general #deeper.

Ok, TBH not really even that much happened, so I´ll just discuss some of my reflections. Sorry if it gets a teeny bit existential. 

Zone conference: So this was probably the most "notable" thing that happened this week. We had zone conference here, and it consisted of the four missionaries in Horqueta, the APs, the HTLs, and Presidente. Aka like nobody. Crazy. Not even our zone leaders came, because we´re just super far away from everything. But anyway, it was interviews with the President this time. So it gets to be my turn for interviews and he´s like "How do you like Horqueta?" And I´m like, "I like it, it´s chill. Really." And then he said, "Ok, good. *Pause*... Hermana, Are you liking your mission?" Me, "Yeah. *Pause* Yeah... *burst into tears*" Lololol que verguenza. But yeah, I don´t even know what happened but I apparently just had a lot of pent up emotions. And you know how I am about authority figures in general. I´ll account in more details in a different email/after the mission or something haha. But yeah, it was fine. And I wasn´t even sad, I just had a lot of emotions. Anyway, then after that we just did practices with the APs and the HTLs, they gave us "constructive feedback" and then that was all. I gotta work on liking that kinda thing more.

Reflections on humility: Ok, so this week I´ve been thinking A TON about humility. Oh gosh, I just felt so HUMBLED this week. And really just in general. I always liked Ether 12:27 before the mish, but I didn´t really understand it like I do now. "If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness." ISN´T THAT THE TRUTH. The more my life is centered around God, the more I know how many weaknesses I have. SO MANY. SO SO SO MANY. Like, stuff I never really even thought about before I am now aware are some of my weaknesses. And then, of course, the scripture continues, "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble." Entonces, "I, [God] give YOU [Holly], weaknesses, that YOU [Holly] may be humble." Wow. Wowowowow. Because seriously I don´t want to have weaknesses. Who does, amirite? But God is saying here that HE gives us our weaknesses.

But why? WHY? Good thing He answers that question in this verse, yeah? "My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." So anyway, I´m still working on the "turning weaknesses into strengths" part, but I´ve for sure come to the place where I´m at least extremely humbled. Like, very much so. I´m still suffering from a broken heart, which is the worst. Who woulda thought my first broken heart would be on the mission, and ironically, as a result of my own weaknesses? It´s actually really funny to me if I think about it. I don´t know, I guess I just thought when I had "6 months" on the mission, I would be totally acclimated, not miss anything about home (at least not dumb stuff like iPhones and music), LOVE "the work", etc. And also, I thought I´d be fluent in the language . But none of those things are true for me (in my personal experience), and it´s really humbled me. 

The good news is that I´m not going to give up. I really do have a freaking ton of faith that God will help me. Like, I know this. There´s SO MUCH I don´t know, but I do know that God will help me. I know He loves me. I really, really know this. And that´s so amazing. Because I didn´t know that before the mission. I believed that, but I didn´t know it. But I know that God has given me my weaknesses. And it doesn´t matter if I´m not a great teacher, or if it´s hard for me to feel instant charity, or if the right now the mission is still "a sacrifice" for me. I know Jesus Christ atoned for my sins, I know my weaknesses are from God, and I have faith that I will continue to progress. I´m not alone in this. Yes, I´m a little heartbroken, but God has a plan for me. That´s something else I know. I´ve never doubted that. 

Anyway, it´s really hard to put into words all of my thoughts, let alone my emotions, so I hope it comes across (and not just as angst). I never know how "open" to be, because I want to be positive (and I really am a lot of the time), but I also want to be honest. I´m all about that open communication life, so I gotta do me, ya know? The other good news is my companion has been really inspired for me at this point in my mission. As long as I exercise patience, she´s great. And like I said, super charitable. That´s for sure like her greatest strength. She really cares about other people. And she cares about me, which is so nice. After my *teeny* breakdown of sorts, she listened to me talk about my feelings for like 40 minutes. And let me tell you, I was super open. Like stuff I didn´t even want to admit to myself are my weaknesses we talked about. It was really inspired. And she just listened and told me I´m great and that God loves me. It was really nice. Cause we all know the mission can be a lonely place.

Other stuff: Well, that´s the gist of my week. We´re going to have a baptism this Saturday of a little boy named Junior. He lives with his Grandma and cousin who are both members, so he´s been attending church for a long time. It´ll be a good time. He´s presh. The rama here is honestly really good. It´s super small (asistencia was 33 on Sunday (including the missionaries and children)), but I like it. And the senior couple the Cranney´s continue to be great. It´s brought me more emotional support than I would have thought to have a "grandparent" type of support going on. OH, also President emergency closed the area of our district leader because of a *few* dangerous things that have happened. Don´t worry... But anyway, so now Elder Muños is our district leader. But now it kinda sucks because we´re the area closest to the Paraguayan mafia headquarters. Yeah, that´s a real thing. But President gave us permission to do some of our studies in the night, so we won´t be out as late. It´s a teeennnyyy bit sketchy, not gonna lie, but I feel like it´ll be fine. Nothing too much more than the usual catcalling from the streets every .2 seconds. New York aint got nothing on Paraguay. 

Ok, well I love you all a lot. Really, a lot. I´m so blessed to have such a bomb eternal family. For realz.

xoxo Hermana Ross

Week 25

Dear Family,

NEWS! Lots of it. Oh gosh, it´s been an eventful week. Supes long. Supes *exciting*

CAMBIOS: Ok, so on Tuesday we had our zone meeting where they announce changes. Like I mentioned last week, it was kind of a 50/50 thing. Everyone said I would stay in Anahi with Hna. Pisco for another change, but I kinda felt like I might leave. Anyway, they announced that I would be leaving and going to HORQUETA! I know that doesn´t mean anything to you, but I gotta explain it. In mission culture, it´s CRAZY. Soooooo a lot of areas in the mish are closeish to Asuncion (cause the rest of Paraguay is just campo), and there´s only a few areas up north. And of those, most of them are just Elders on account of it´s more dangerous/super poor. But there are two areas that have a pair of hermanas each (ybi yui is one) and the other is Horqueta. I almost died when I heard. Legit legit legit. It´s eight hours up in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. That´s no joke. And it´s easily like the hottest part of the whole country. And the country is easily the hottest country on the whole continent. SO YEAH. Also, they speak hecka Guarani in Horqueta. Anyway, I was in tiny shock just cause the odds were super small that I´d ever get sent there, so I never really thought about it. They pretty much only send Latinas up here too on account of it´s a *teeny bit* dangerous (don´t worry, I´m sure it´ll be fine). Anywayyyyyyy. Actually, the last Americana they had up here was like over a year ago when they had Hermana Border, so that´s chill. Everyone in my district was cracking up when they announced that, because Horqueta was kind of like the "joke" place to guess someone would get sent on account of it´s so far away and SO HOT and super campo. Anyway, so that was super crazy and then I pretty much just said goodbye to everyone in Anahi all day and packed my stuff all night. It was trippy. It was honestly really sad to say goodbye to everyone in Anahi. Nothing can compare to your first area, ya know? And Hermana Pisco and I were low-key depressed on account of we wanted to stay together, so it was really sad to say goodbye to her and to my district.

Hermana Valdivia: So I also found out in this same moment that my new companion is Hermana Valdivia from Peru. Let´s be real, it´s always a little scary to get a new companion on account of you only know about them what you hear about them, and sometimes it´s not so great. But anyway, we got together on Wednesday morning and then had to take our eight hour bus ride up to Horqueta. Fun fact though, I found out what´s in the middle of all of Paraguay -- nothing. Literally, nothing. Palm trees. Campo. More palm trees. It was nuts. Anyway, so far things have been good with her. She has kind of an intense personality, but mostly I´m just really chill with most types of personalities. And I prefer intense to passive aggressive, obviously. She´s supppeeerrr cariñosa, which is pretty comical. She loves to hug everyone and everything, and literally like multiple times throughout every day she´ll just hug me and say "Te quiero muchooooooooo." Lolz. It´s gonna help me to be more "affectionate," so that´s good. She´s honestly a really good teacher though, and she´s pretty bomb in lessons. I feel like I´m going to learn a lot about how to teach from her. She´s direct, but in a good way, I think. For example, the other day we met this couple and were going to have a first lesson with them, and she starts off with the law of chastity (bold, let´s be honest). And then she says to the boyfriend, "Have you ever thought about marrying your girlfriend?" And he said that yeah, he´s thought about it and wants to. And then she asks the girlfriend, "And what would you say?" And she was like, "I´d say yes." And then she was like, "So there you have it!" Hahahahahaha she literally got a couple to propose to each other. I was dying. But yeah, I´m hoping things will just be tranquilo this change. I´m thinking they will be. Other funny thing that happened though was that I was asking her about stuff she knows about America (which is like literally nothing), and she´s never even heard of like 99% of American music/movies/etc. I asked her if she knows who One Direction is (yes, I know they´re British, whatevs), and she was like, "Yeah, I think so. It´s a TV show, right?" lolololol. So yeah, we´re going to learn a lot from each other this change. Bound to happen when two people come from really different cultures with really different experiences. Stoke!

La rama: Ok, so here we´re just in a rama because it´s super small and there´s not a ton of members. I really like it though, and the branch is good. There are more jovenes (youth) than actual adult members. But let´s be real, that´s perfect for me on account of I love the youths. There´s like four youth preparing for a mission right now. How exciting, amirite?! But anyway, I had to give a "short message" since it was my first week here. Ayyyy. But I "know Spanish now," so it´s ok. 

Los Cranneys: Other exciting thing about Horqueta is that we have a senior couple here! The only one in the whole mish. Horqueta itself is super small and it´s only us and two other elders in the whole district/within over an hour, but Elder and Hermana Cranney are a senior couple called to the area for a year and half to help with the leadership. Honestly, it´s been a good time. They just got here about two months ago, and Hermana Cranney doesn´t speak any Spanish. It´s comedy. And they are just really nice and it´s good to have support. Also, turns out I for sure want to go on a couples mission in the future, cause they are HOOKED UP. Literally, I´m so jealous. They just bust out their smart phones whenever, talk to their families whenever, can wake up whenever and schedule whatever. Really it just seems like a sweet set up. And they have a CAR. Like, an SUV from the states. Today we had our zone activity in Conception (the closest city like an hour away), and they drove us home after and I was dying. I haven´t been in a car like that in 5ever. It was gr8. 

The "house": So I´ll just describe a few deets of my living situation so you can get a feel for where I am. Bad news about the house is that it´s super small, ghetto, and falling apart. Worse news about the house is that there´s almost no lights, and so at night we can´t see anything except for where we study because there´s a light in there. WORST NEWS about the house is that there´s LITERALLY NO MIRRORS. Not a single one. My dispensa house was pretty ghetto, but we at least had a tiny mirror on the back of our dresser. But there´s literally nothing here. I have a pocket mirror that´s like 2" by 2", and that´s it. So I pretty much literally can´t get ready here at all. I´m not super vain or anything, but it´s been a weird adjustment. So yeah, by the end of my time in Horqueta I´ll for sure give 0 whats about anything in regards to physical appearance. So I guess that´s good? Probably when it gets to be 130 degrees I won´t want to look in the mirror anyway, let´s be honest. Ok, onto the other stuff. Good news about the house is that there´s hot water. Better news about the house is that there´s a fan and a teeny air thing. Best news about the house is actually just the best news about my adaptation to Paraguay. Which is that I literally can´t be bothered with the fact that the house is janky as heck (minus the mirror thing). But really, before I sleep I just check for spiders, kill any I find, and then get in my bed. Can you imagine? hahaha. 

Ok, so overall I feel really good. It was for sure sad to leave Anahi, but I really like Horqueta a lot so far. I kept waiting to feel overwhelmed this week, but I just haven´t. I don´t know, I just feel super, super chill. They really do speak Guarani a ton here though, btdubs. I don´t really see myself learning that language fluently on account of it´s freaking NUTS. But it´s chill, because at the start of my mission I always had to have stuff translated from Spanish into English so I could understand it. And now I have to have everything translated from Guarani to Spanish so I can understand it. Which is fine with me because 1)I´m super used to not understanding what´s being said, and 2)Spanish is my new English! (not really, but it really is the greatest feeling ever when stuff is translated into Spanish from Guarani and it feels easy to understand). But everyone told me Horqueta was like campo campo campo, but TBH it´s actually just like a really small town. There are actually some roads, which is more than Anahi had. But they don´t have a normal grocery store, nor do they have a place to use computers. So the four missionaries here have to trade off during P-day to use the ONE computer in Horqueta that´s in the church building. But yeah, I like the set up of the city a lot, and it´s not even more campo than Anahi, per se. 

So those are the happenings of my week here! It feels more like a month, but not in a super bad way, per se. I think I´m going to like this area a lot.

Have a great week! Love you tons!! 

Con amor,

Hermana Ross

We visited this sick futbol museum and they had a FIFA trophy!

Me in said museum

1995

Super blurry pic of me with the world

My gr8 district

Stalking pictures of our district leader with his girlfriend. Great times.

Hna. Pisco doing the dishes #wifematerial

Us taking pictures, lolz 

Testing filters #basic

cracking up

With the district

Goodbye, tree

Goodbye, children

At a b-day partay

some jovens 

Week 24

Dear family!!!

Hey! Thanks a ton for your emails this week. They were on point and super helpful. I`m real grateful to have such a solid support system. 

This week was good. Really good. I feel a lot better in general. I feel like I`ve reached a higher ground (of life), and it`s great. Onto the deets:

Lessons from having a companion 24/7: Things continue to be really good with Hermana Pisco, and this week was probably the best of them all with her. We were friends before, obviously, but I feel like we have gotten even closer. It`s just good stuff. I`ve learned a ton about life/relationships by living/decision-making with someone 24/7 about lit-rally EVERYTHING we do, and mostly it`s just good stuff (well, the lessons are good. Sometimes the actual process is hard). I feel like in a partnership, both people have the power to make like at least 75% of the difference. I`m aware that the math doesn`t add up, but it`s the truth. And with Hermana Pisco, I`ve really grown to appreciate a lot of what her personalty has to offer. She`s just really NOT unstable, and I really appreciate that quality in people. Also, turns out I regret nothing about all the slang I`ve taught her, because it`s so dang funny when she uses it. This week she learned "you`re the real MVP" (and it what situations to use it), and it`s been golden.

Spanish: Well now that I`m in the first day of a new transfer, I can better reflect back on the progress of my Spanish the past six weeks. Let me tell you, it`s been a real miracle. The gift of tongues is the realest. At the start of the change I could kind of understand some stuff (maybe) and bear a basic testimony/pray. And now I can pretty much express myself fluidly. Woah. I started the change with my Spanish at like a 2.5/10 and now I`ve been told my district/comp that it`s at a 7. That`s a HECKA lot of progress in such a short amount of time, and I`m SO GRATEFUL! Oh gosh, and so relieved. I`m still far from feeling super confident/able to express all my feelings exactly how I want to, but really, it`s all just good stuff. I know my grammar is still incorrect a lot, but it`s chill for now. Stokkeeeeeeeeee. I seriously know only the power of God could have helped me improve so quickly #eternaltruths

The jovens and missions: So really cool story that`s been going down is with this joven named Carlos Aguero. He is 21 and all of his family are active members, but he hasn`t gone to church since he was baptized 8 years ago. He just was always working/never really had interest. So anyway, a few weeks ago, he had the feeling to start praying about whether or not he should consider serving a mission. Random, yeah? But anyway, he decided one day about three weeks ago that he was going to go to church that Sunday and potentially start his mission papers. And guess what, dawgs! The first time he`d been back to church in all that time was the week I gave a talk! And in my talk (about receiving spiritual revelation, if you remember) at the end I told all the youth in the ward that are at the age of serving a mission that they should really earnestly start to seek spiritual guidance on if (for YW) or how (for YM) they can start their papers. And I shared a little bit of my experience with deciding to come on a mission, and said for me, I had to ACT first. I had to fill out all my papers and estar dispuesto to go wherever the Lord would send me. And THEN (only after all of that) did I get my answer. And I said that I know the same thing will happen for them, and that the Lord always blesses us with answers after the trials of our faith. Anyway, sorry I`m not typing this very eloquently right now cause I`m in a hurry, BUT the point is that directly after Sacrament meeting that day Carlos talked to the bishop and officially decided to start his mission papers! Sicckkkkkk!! So we`ve been meeting with him to talk to him about the mission/the church, because he honestly hardly knows any of the doctrines. He practically knows less than even a recent convert, because he`s been inactive for pretty much his whole life. So we`ve been talking about the stuff he should do to prepare, Book of Mormon scriptures, etc. It`s been a great experience.

Change of heart: Turns out to have a change of heart, your original heart literally (figuratively) has to be broken first. I guess that was just a detail I never thought about much because I just assumed the process would be nothing but positive (because obviously the outcome of having a changed heart is positive). Well, I`ve been awakened to the brutal reality which is having to truly sacrifice your will, and it`s HARD. Gosh, it`s hard. I thought the hard thing was coming to Paraguay on my mission, learning Spanish, leaving my family, etc. And yes, all those things are very hard. But what`s really, REALLY hard is being made painfully aware of all your weaknesses and knowing the road you have to travel to overcome them. But I`ve come to a higher mental plain with all of these thoughts in the past few weeks, and I`m feeling pretty good about it all. Progress is always good, ya know? Anyway, I have a few more reflections on this, but it`s really well summarized in a quote by (I think) Neal A. Maxwell in his talk about patience. He says, "In life, even patiently stretching out sweetness is sometimes not enough; in certain situations, enjoyment must actually be deferred. A patient willingness to defer dividends is a hallmark of individual maturity... Further, the patient person can better understand how there are circumstances when, if our hearts are set too much upon the things of this world, they must be broken - but for our sakes, and not merely as a demonstration of divine power. But it takes real patience in such circumstances to wait for the later vindication of our trust in the Lord... Patience permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord when we are tossed about by suffering as if by surf. When the undertow grasps us, we will realize that even as we tumble we are somehow being carried forward; we are actually being helped even as we cry for help. One of the functions of the tribulations of the righteous is that "tribulation worketh patience" (Romans 5:3). What a vital attribute is patience is if tribulation is worth enduring to bring about its development! Patience in turn brings about the needed experience, as noted in the stunning insight the Lord gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith: "All these things shall give you experience, and shall be for thy good" (D y C 122:7)." Also, I don`t remember exactly what Mormon Message it`s in, but there is one with like a parable with a gardener (Jesus) who has to prune his bushes (us) so they`ll give forth fruit. And the last line of the video (which is the only part I remember vividly and that has come to my mind a million times in the past few weeks) is when he says, "Thank you dear gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down." And I really, really feel that way. I feel like I am being helped even as I cry for help. I am so grateful to have a Heavenly Father that loves me enough to cut me down so I can grow. The mission really does work miracles.

Literal changes: Ok, so I also have to mention that cambios are tomorrow. Guys, I`m really worried imma get changed. I really don`t want to on account of we`re doing tons of stuff in the area right now, I`m having good times with Hermana Pisco, and also I don`t feel like the stress of having to adapt to a new area right now. I`ll be pretty sad if I get changes. Everyone in the district guessed that I won`t, but I kinda feel like I might. We`ll see. Maybe it`s just my fear of getting changed making me thing that I will. Dumb thing about changes though is that we find out tomorrow afternoon, and then we have to leave Wednesday morning hecka early if we actually do have them. And we`ve already planned for the week here/today I bought groceries for the week, meaning that if I get changes I for sure won`t have enough money for the month. I guess we`ll see, lolz #pray4Holly

Thanks again for all the support. I`m doing great and pray that everything will continue to go well at home. I can`t believe Baby Ray is graduating and I won`t be there. UGHHHHH. But the Lord blesses those who make sacrifices for Him, so I know it`ll be ok. Have a gr8 time and send me all the pictures <3

Much love,

Hermana Ross

Delicious brownie thing I made for said FHE activity. This picture doesn`t capture how good they were #wifeskillz #lyfeskillz

No, there`s no yellow dye in the water. It`s just Paraguayan tap water #cuidense

Us at an FHE thing we organized with a bunch of recent converts from the ward

Made my 5th agenda with my theme of the cambio: Change of Heart

Me with Joanna and Susanna. Presh. 

Me with a torrito <3 (fun fact is that right after this picture was taken it started to charge at me lololol). Also, fyi there are about a billion cows in my area. This is just one of my favorite ones that I pass every day. 

The field by our house with lots of cows

Me in said field w/ cows

Week 23

(I am posting this a week late, apologies)

August 3, 2015

Hey dawgs! (lolz, I accidentally called my companion "dawg" in context once, and then she wanted me to explain it to her. So now she knows even more almost-useless vocabulary in English. Whoops. I keep accidentally teaching her colloquialisms that aren`t that important... My bad.)

What even went down this week? Just a normal amount, I guess. Heading into week 6 of 6, so that`s something. I`ll hit up the deets:

Peru Dia de Independencia: So this past Tuesday/Wednesday were the equivalent of the 4th of July in Peru (that`s right, they have TWO days). My comp was stoked for it, and since I forgot to celebrate 4th of July, I joined in. It was a good time. We wore red and white and she made Peruvian flags and she accounted for me the history of Peruvian independence. Lolz. Also, on Tuesday we had traditional Peruvian food at lunch (well, my comp did...) because we ate with a menos activo who is from Peru. Funz. Other funny thing about Peruvians (at least all the ones I know) is that they are OBSESSED with rice. Like literally, the stereotypes with rice should be about Peruvians. She literally said, and I quote "I don`t consider a meal that doesn`t have rice a meal." Lololol. So yeah, she was stoked to eat "real" Peruvian food.

Glass blowing: Ok, so I found my future career (this is kind of a joke, but also I`m kind of serious). So that Peruvian guy has his own business where he makes stuff (like vases, containers, animals, etc.) out of glass. And it`s SICK! Oh my gosh, I was mesmerized. We watched him make this tiny glass swan in like two minutes. And then he was like "I think this swan wants to go to the Estados Unidos!" And he gave it to me!! I was stoked. Bad news is I`m pretty sure that type of thing isn`t in that high of demand in the states. But really, it was awesome #lifegoals

Dia de Amistad: Other awesome "holiday" of sorts that happened this week is called "Day of Friendship." Apparently that`s a thing in like all of South/Central America, but I`d never even heard of it. It`s just a day where you celebrate friendship! How presh, amirite? We got little presents from some members and the Relief Society here. 2 cute.

District meeting: Ok, so I just thought I`d throw in a quick fact about our district meeting this past week. It was with the assistants to the President, our zone leaders, and for some reason, a few Elders that weren`t even in our district. All in all, it ended up being like half of our zone (and we were the only hermanas, as per usual.) Anyway, it was fine and normal and stuff, and then at the end, the AP is like "Ok, well we`re going to do practices now. Companionship by companionship in front of EVERYONE!" Gosh, #nightmares. I was not stoked. And my companion is just really timid in all teaching/practice-type situations. And I`m like "But dawg, you speak Spanish. Plz help me out." So anyway, I took the lead and it went fine, but gosh, not my favorite thing. And then after, it`s like "Ok, what did they do well? What can they improve?" Awks, let`s be honest. Oh well, I guess #lyfeskillz

Fechas!: Ok, so the best news of the week is that we have two investigators that have baptismal dates! And guess who finally knows enough Spanish to make it happen? Me, that`s who. Stoke! More to come as time goes on. But one of them is named Lydia, and she has four little boys and I`m really excited about her. Here`s to hoping all goes well! 

HOT: Other thing I gotta mention is that this week was hotter than hot. Burning up, even. And it was a struggle. It`s good because 1) I now have a sweet tan, and 2) it makes our cold showers more bearable. BUT, it`s bad because 1) It`s so hot and humid and miserable, 2) We`re walking for miles and miles all day, and it`s like impossible not to get a headache/feel like fainting, 3) It`s LITERALLY THE MIDDLE OF WINTER HERE RIGHT NOW, meaning that it will only get worse, and 4) Because it will get hotter by like at least 50% in the summer, there`s an increasing multiplying percentage that I will literally die. Guys, turns out I don`t have a lot of stamina. Who knew? Working all day in normal temperature is hard for me, let alone with "the elements." I guess we`ll see what goes down in a few months, lolz. Get hyped!

Ok, well I realize this email is filled with a lot of random details that maybe aren`t all that significant. I`m sry. Hopefully this week will have some good stuff go down! Love you all a lot!!

xoxo Hermana Ross

Me with the Martinez children (we gave them glowsticks for Natalia`s birthday). Presh. Not sure why my face is illuminated like that, but I guess it`s chill.

The Peruvian with his glass blowing business (aka my future career). THE ILLEST.

All celebrating Micaela opening her mission call!

Micaela (a joven in the barrio) opening her mission call! She`s going to Brazil. 

Me and my comp for Peruvian Dia de Independencia (red and white, obvio)

For my comp to remember that "with" is NEVER pronounced with a "g" or with an "f"

The glass swan that the Peruvian member made for me in less than two minutes. So sick. Seriously, I want to get into glass blowing after the mission. And that`s real life.

Me with moar puppies. It`s no lie to say that literally every person in Paraguay owns at least one dog. Also, there are numberless amounts of stray dogs, which therefore leads to numberless amounts of puppies. It`s bad on account of sometimes the dogs are real talk scary and I realllyyy don`t want rabies, but it`s good on account of PUPPIES!